Apple: Sorry About Our Maps, Use Google or Bing Maps Instead

CEO Tim Cook has issued a rare apology on behalf of Apple, admitting that its new Maps tool with iOS 6 isn't good enough.

"We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," he said in an open letter to customers. "Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard."

Cook even went as far as to recommend users download rival services to their devices while improvements in its own tool are worked on.

"You can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app," he said.

"There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations," he said. "The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you."

Whether the apology is enough to appease disgruntled users remains to be seen, but sales of 5 million iPhone 5 devices on its opening weekend, despite the Maps issues already heading the headlines, suggests most are not put off by the incident.

About the author

Dan Worth is the news editor for V3 having first joined the site as a reporter in November 2009. He specialises in a raft of areas including fixed and mobile telecoms, data protection, social media and government IT. Before joining V3 Dan covered communications technology, data handling and resilience in the emergency services sector on the BAPCO Journal.